Mobile wireless communications device including a differential output lna connected to multiple receive signal chains

ABSTRACT

A mobile wireless communications device may include an antenna, a wireless radio frequency (RF) receiver, a wireless RF transmitter, and a duplexer connecting the wireless RF receiver and the wireless RF transmitter to the antenna. More particularly, the wireless RF receiver may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) connected to the duplexer and having first and second differential outputs, a first receive signal chain for wireless communications signals having a first signal type connected to the first differential output of the LNA, and a second receive signal chain for wireless communications signals having a second signal type different than the first signal type connected to the second differential output of the LNA.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communicationsdevices, and, more particularly, to receiver systems for mobile wirelesscommunications devices and related methods.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cellular communications systems continue to grow in popularity and havebecome an integral part of both personal and business communications.Cellular telephones allow users to place and receive voice calls mostanywhere they travel. Moreover, as cellular telephone technology hasincreased, so too has the functionality of cellular devices and thedifferent types of devices available to users. For example, manycellular devices now incorporate personal digital assistant (PDA)features such as calendars, address books, task lists, etc. Moreover,such multi-function devices may also allow users to wirelessly send andreceive electronic mail (email) messages and access the Internet via acellular network and/or a wireless local area network (WLAN), forexample.

Accordingly, there is a continual evolution in cellular communicationsformats that can not only provide desired voice communication coverage,but also which can provide higher throughputs for data intensiveapplications such as Web browsing, digital file transfer, etc. As aresult, different cellular protocols or formats are often layered uponone another as technology progresses. One example is in Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA) systems, such as CDMA2000 systems. CDMA2000 is ahybrid system that uses both second and third generation (3G) formats tocover both voice and data communications. More particular, the CDMA1×RTT (1×) format is the core CDMA2000 wireless air interface standardand is the basic or default service communications format provided bycellular base stations for both voice and data.

On the other hand, Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) is a 3G CDMAtelecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of datathrough radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access. However,CDMA 1× and EVDO may utilize different frequency bands, or they may bothshare the same frequency bands but use different coding. Moreover,cellular network providers often do not have the infrastructure in placeat all of their base stations to provide seamless EVDO coverage. Assuch, it becomes necessary for CDMA cellular devices to monitor pagingchannels from different cellular base stations to fill in these “holes”in the network, to provide voice coverage (as EVDO is generally not wellsuited to voice traffic), and to determine when the higher datathroughput EVDO option is available to provide enhanced performance.

One exemplary system for monitoring paging channels from differentnetwork formats is disclosed in U.S. patent pub. No. 2006/0182069. Moreparticularly, the system permits a network, such as a data only network(e.g., CDMA2000 1×-EVDO), with which a mobile terminal is not currentlycommunicating to notify the mobile terminal that the network desires toestablish communication with the mobile terminal, even in instances inwhich the mobile terminal is actively communicating via another network,such as a voice and data network (e.g., CDMA2000 1×) and has stoppedmonitoring for paging messages. The mobile terminal can then endcommunications with the network with which it has been previouslycommunicating and commence communications with the other network thathas transmitted the paging message. For example, a mobile terminal mayterminate voice communications via a voice and data network in order toreceive an MMS message via a data only network upon receivingnotification that the data only network desires to establish acommunications session with the mobile terminal.

Despite the advantages of such approaches, further developments may bedesirable in mobile wireless communications devices for monitoring theavailability of different communications formats, particularly cellulardevices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a mobile wireless communications deviceincluding a power divider connecting a low noise amplifier (LNA) tofirst and second receive signal chains.

FIG. 2 is schematic diagram of the wireless RF receiver of the device ofFIG. 1 with an exemplary power divider configuration.

FIG. 3 is schematic diagram of the wireless RF receiver of the device ofFIG. 1 with another exemplary power divider configuration.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an alternative embodiment of thewireless RF receiver of the device of FIG. 1 including first and secondreceive signal chains connected to respective outputs of a differentialoutput LNA.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a prior art mobile wirelesscommunications device embodiment including a single receive chain.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another prior art mobile wirelesscommunications device embodiment in which a switch is included in theantenna path for switching between a primary transceiver and a secondaryreceiver chain.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating exemplary mobilewireless communications device components that may be used in accordancewith the embodiments of FIGS. 1 through 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present description is made with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which preferred embodiments are shown. However, manydifferent embodiments may be used, and thus the description should notbe construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather,these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thoroughand complete. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout, and primenotation is used to indicate similar elements or steps in alternativeembodiments.

Generally speaking, a mobile wireless communications device is disclosedherein which may include an antenna, a wireless radio frequency (RF)receiver, a wireless RF transmitter, and a duplexer connecting thewireless RF receiver and the wireless RF transmitter to the antenna.More particularly, the wireless RF receiver may include a low noiseamplifier (LNA) connected to the duplexer and having first and seconddifferential outputs, a first receive signal chain for wirelesscommunications signals having a first signal type connected to the firstdifferential output of the LNA, and a second receive signal chain forwireless communications signals having a second signal type differentthan the first signal type connected to the second differential outputof the LNA.

The first receive signal chain may have a first data rate, and thesecond receive signal chain may have a second data rate greater than thefirst data rate, for example. Moreover, at least one of the first andsecond signal chains may also process voice communications. By way ofexample, the first signal type for the first receive signal chain may beCDMA2000 1×, and the second signal type for the second receive signalchain may be CDMA2000 1×-EVDO.

The wireless RF receiver may further include at least one filterconnected between the LNA and the first and second receive signalchains. Additionally, the first receive signal chain may include a firstmixer, and the second receive signal chain may include a second mixer.

A related mobile wireless communications method may include providing amobile wireless communications device, such as the one described brieflyabove. The method may further include using the first receive signalchain for a first wireless communications signal type and the secondreceive signal chain for a second wireless communications signal typedifferent than the first signal type.

Referring initially to FIG. 1, a mobile wireless communications device30 illustratively includes one or more antennas 31, which may beinternal (i.e., included within a device housing) or external (i.e.,located at least partially outside the device housing) antennas, as willbe appreciated by those skilled in the art. By way of example, thedevice 30 may operate in accordance with a cellular, wireless LAN (e.g.,802.11x, Bluetooth, etc.), WiMAX, satellite, etc., communicationsformat, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. In someembodiments, more than one such wireless communications format may beused in the same device (e.g., cellular, wireless LAN, and Bluetooth).Various types of mobile wireless communications devices 30 may be used,such as mobile phones, PDAs, laptop computers, wireless-enabled cameras,wireless-enabled media players, etc., for example. For convenience ofreference, the various embodiments presented herein are in the contextof cellular CDMA formats, and more particularly CDMA200 1× and 1×-EVDOapplications, but again other wireless communications formats may alsobe used in different embodiments.

The device 30 further illustratively includes a wireless radio frequency(RF) receiver 32, a wireless RF transmitter 33, and a duplexer 34connecting the wireless RF receiver and the wireless RF transmitter tothe antenna 31. More particularly, the wireless RF receiver 32illustratively includes a low noise amplifier (LNA) 35 connected to theduplexer 34, and a first receive signal chain 36 for a first signal type(e.g., CDMA2000 1×) downstream from the LNA. A second receive signalchain 37 for a second signal type (e.g., CDMA2000 1×-EVDO) differentthan the first signal type is also downstream from the LNA 35, and apower divider 38 illustratively connects the LNA to the first and secondreceive signal chains as shown. As used herein, different “signal types”may mean the signals are of a different format (e.g., CDMA2000 1× vs.CDMA2000 1×-EVDO), different frequencies, have a different coding type,etc., as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the first receive signalchain 36 has a first data rate and is for the first signal type, such asa CDMA2000 1×, and the second receive signal chain 37 has a second datarate greater than the first data rate and is for the second signal type,such as CDMA2000 1×-EVDO. Additionally, at least one of the first andsecond signal chains 36, 37 may also process voice communications. Inthis configuration, the first (1×) receive signal chain 36 would be usedfor voice (and optionally data) communications, while the second (EVDO)receive signal chain 37 would be used for data communications, as willbe appreciated by those skilled in the art.

By way of comparison, certain prior art approaches for monitoring pagingsignals corresponding to different signal formats will now be describedwith reference FIGS. 5 and 6. For convenience of reference, componentsin FIGS. 5 and 6 that correspond to those of FIGS. 1-3 are labeledincremented by one hundred (e.g., the duplexer 134 of FIG. 5 is similarto the duplexer 34 of FIG. 1, etc.). In the device 130, a filter 140(e.g., a bandpass filter such as a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter)is downstream from the LNA 135 and filters the output thereof, and asingle receive chain 136 including a mixer 139 is downstream from thefilter. The single receive chain 136 is used to listen for both 1× andEVDO base station paging. For example, the receive chain 136 may be usedto listen for 1× base station paging during EVDO operation, as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art. Yet, sharing the same receivesignal chain may be disadvantageous in some instances, as this requirethe control circuitry to change the receive chain 136 back-and-forthbetween the different 1× and EVDO frequencies, which may undesirablyresult in a temporary interruption of data downloading, for example.

An alternative prior art approach is illustrated in FIG. 6. Here, ratherthan utilizing a single receive chain 136 as in the device 130 of FIG.5, a secondary receiver 142′ is selectively coupled to the antenna 131′by a multi-pole switch 141′. A blocker filter 150′ is downstream fromthe switch 141′, followed by an LNA 145′ and the secondary receivesignal chain 137′ as shown. It will also be noted that in thisconfiguration the filter 140′ is upstream from the LNA 135′. In anothersimilar prior art embodiment (not shown), only the receiver signal pathis switched after the duplexer 134′. Still, another prior art approachis to eliminate the switch 141′ and simply use two separate antennas131′.

While the device 130′ shown in FIG. 6 does have separate or designatedreceive chains 136′, 137′ for different paging frequencies (e.g., 1× andEVDO), this configuration also suffers several drawbacks. For example,this approach requires additional components, namely the switch 141′ andadditional filter 150′ and LNA 145′, which not only adds to device costbut also increases space requirements, as will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art. Another potential disadvantage of this approach isthat it may add additional losses either directly or indirectly in theprimary receive signal path. More particularly, adding the switch 141′in series with the primary receive signal path may result in the switchlosses directly degrading the noise floor of the primary receive signalpath (and the secondary receive signal path as well), as will also beappreciated by those skilled in the art.

By way of contrast, the device 30 of FIG. 1 advantageously avoids thesignal losses associated with such a front-end switching approachupstream from the LNA 35, and instead moves potential losses frominclusion of the second receive signal chain 37 to a less detrimentalposition downstream from the LNA. The gain of the LNA 35 advantageouslyhelps suppress the noise floor introduced by the tap of the firstreceive signal chain 36 by the power divider 38, as will be appreciatedby those skilled in the art. That is, tapping the received signal energyafter the LNA 35 helps to minimize the impact of signal loss on thefirst receive signal chain 36, and potentially improves sensitivity byapproximately 1 dB or more. To this end, an additional LNA(s) may beused in some embodiments, if desired, as will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art. As a result of this configuration, the necessity forthe costly (i.e., in terms of money and space) filter elements of thesystem of FIG. 130′ may advantageously be avoided.

In the present example, the power divider 38 circuitry advantageouslytaps a portion of the received signal energy after amplification by theLNA 35 so that it may be provided to the second receive signal chain 37,as shown. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2,the power divider takes the form of a directional coupler 60′ coupled atthe output of an optional filter 40′, which in turn is downstream of andcoupled to the output of the LNA 35′. In some embodiments the filter 40′may be located downstream of the power divider circuitry (see FIG. 3),as well as upstream of the LNA 35′(as seen in FIG. 6). Also, the firstreceive signal chain illustratively includes a first mixer 39′ receivingas inputs a reference signal LO and the output of the filter 40′ (aftercoupling by the directional coupler 60′), and the second receive signalchain similarly includes a mixer 159′ receiving as inputs the referencesignal LO and the signal energy tapped by the directional coupler.

Use of the directional coupler 60′ advantageously provides a compactimplementation, since suitable RF directional couplers are commerciallyavailable in relatively small packages, such as from the MurataManufacturing Co., Ltd., or AVX Corporation, as will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art. Moreover, these devices also provide arelatively stable coupling ratio, as will also be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art.

Additional exemplary power divider circuitry implementations are shownin FIG. 3. Here, power divider circuitry 70″ taps the received signalenergy downstream of the LNA 35″ but upstream of the filter 40″. By wayof example, the power divider circuitry 70″ in this embodiment may takethe form of resistive dividers or taps, reactive dividers or taps,resistive or reactive taps, or hybrids, for example, as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art. Tapping upstream of the filter40″ may be desirable, for example, in embodiments where desiredrejection is provided by the duplexer and additional sensitivity isrequired in the second receive signal chain. It should be noted thatsuch taps, dividers, hybrids, etc., may also be used downstream from thefilter 40″ as shown in FIG. 2, and likewise the directional coupler 60′may also be used upstream of the filter as shown in FIG. 3, as will alsobe appreciated by those skilled in the art. Generally speaking, adirectional coupler may provide advantages in terms of signal loss andspace requirements over dividers, taps, hybrids, etc., although theparticular component(s) to be used in a given implementation may be amatter of design choice based upon factors such as space constraints,signal tolerances, cost, etc., as will further be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art.

Another advantageous embodiment is now described with reference to FIG.4, in which a differential output LNA 55′″ is used in place of the powerdivider circuitry of FIGS. 1-3 to provide a received energy signal tothe first receive signal chain 36′″ and a second mirror copy of thereceived energy signal to the second receive signal chain 37′″, as willbe appreciated by those skilled in the art. Here again, filter circuitrymay be provided downstream (or upstream) from the differential outputLNA 55′″ in some embodiments, if desired. Again, factors such as spaceconstraints, signal tolerances, cost, etc., will affect the choice ofwhich of the above-described configurations to use for a givenimplementation.

A related mobile wireless communications method may include providing amobile wireless communications device 30 including the LNA 35 connectedto the duplexer 34, the first receive signal chain 36 downstream fromthe LNA, a second receive signal chain 37 also downstream from the LNA,and the power divider 38 connecting the LNA to the first and secondreceive signal chains. The method may further include using the firstreceive signal chain 36 for a first signal type and the second receivesignal chain 37 for a second signal type different than the first signaltype, as discussed further above.

In accordance with another advantageous method aspect, a mobile wirelesscommunications device 30′″ may be provided including the LNA 55′″connected to the duplexer 34′″ and having first and second differentialoutputs, the first receive signal chain 36′″ connected to the firstdifferential output of the LNA, and the second receive signal chain 37′″connected to the second differential output of the LNA. The method mayfurther include using the first receive signal chain 36′″ for a firstsignal type and the second receive signal chain 37′″ for a second signaltype different than the first signal type, as also discussed furtherabove.

Exemplary components that may be used in accordance the above-describedmobile wireless communications devices are now described with referenceto a mobile wireless communications device 1000 shown in FIG. 7. Thedevice 1000 illustratively includes a housing 1200, a keypad 1400 and anoutput device 1600. The output device shown is a display 1600, which ispreferably a full graphic LCD. Other types of output devices mayalternatively be utilized. A processing device 1800 is contained withinthe housing 1200 and is coupled between the keypad 1400 and the display1600. The processing device 1800 controls the operation of the display1600, as well as the overall operation of the mobile device 1000, inresponse to actuation of keys on the keypad 1400 by the user.

The housing 1200 may be elongated vertically, or may take on other sizesand shapes (including clamshell housing structures). The keypad mayinclude a mode selection key, or other hardware or software forswitching between text entry and telephony entry.

In addition to the processing device 1800, other parts of the mobiledevice 1000 are shown schematically in FIG. 7. These include acommunications subsystem 1001; a short-range communications subsystem1020; the keypad 1400 and the display 1600, along with otherinput/output devices 1060, 1080, 1100 and 1120; as well as memorydevices 1160, 1180 and various other device subsystems 1201. The mobiledevice 1000 is preferably a two-way RF communications device havingvoice and data communications capabilities. In addition, the mobiledevice 1000 preferably has the capability to communicate with othercomputer systems via the Internet.

Operating system software executed by the processing device 1800 ispreferably stored in a persistent store, such as the flash memory 1160,but may be stored in other types of memory devices, such as a read onlymemory (ROM) or similar storage element. In addition, system software,specific device applications, or parts thereof, may be temporarilyloaded into a volatile store, such as the random access memory (RAM)1180. Communications signals received by the mobile device may also bestored in the RAM 1180.

The processing device 1800, in addition to its operating systemfunctions, enables execution of software applications 1300A-1300N on thedevice 1000. A predetermined set of applications that control basicdevice operations, such as data and voice communications 1300A and1300B, may be installed on the device 1000 during manufacture. Inaddition, a personal information manager (PIM) application may beinstalled during manufacture. The PIM is preferably capable oforganizing and managing data items, such as e-mail, calendar events,voice mails, appointments, and task items. The PIM application is alsopreferably capable of sending and receiving data items via a wirelessnetwork 1401. Preferably, the PIM data items are seamlessly integrated,synchronized and updated via the wireless network 1401 with the deviceuser's corresponding data items stored or associated with a hostcomputer system.

Communication functions, including data and voice communications, areperformed through the communications subsystem 1001, and possiblythrough the short-range communications subsystem. The communicationssubsystem 1001 includes a receiver 1500, a transmitter 1520, and one ormore antennas 1540 and 1560. In addition, the communications subsystem1001 also includes a processing module, such as a digital signalprocessor (DSP) 1580, and local oscillators (LOs) 1601. The specificdesign and implementation of the communications subsystem 1001 isdependent upon the communications network in which the mobile device1000 is intended to operate. For example, a mobile device 1000 mayinclude a communications subsystem 1001 designed to operate with theMobitex™, Data TAC™ or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) mobile datacommunications networks, and also designed to operate with any of avariety of voice communications networks, such as AMPS, TDMA, CDMA,WCDMA, PCS, GSM, EDGE, etc. Other types of data and voice networks, bothseparate and integrated, may also be utilized with the mobile device1000. The mobile device 1000 may also be compliant with othercommunications standards such as 3GSM, 3GPP, UMTS, etc.

Network access requirements vary depending upon the type ofcommunication system. For example, in the Mobitex and DataTAC networks,mobile devices are registered on the network using a unique personalidentification number or PIN associated with each device. In GPRSnetworks, however, network access is associated with a subscriber oruser of a device. A GPRS device therefore requires a subscriber identitymodule, commonly referred to as a SIM card, in order to operate on aGPRS network.

When required network registration or activation procedures have beencompleted, the mobile device 1000 may send and receive communicationssignals over the communication network 1401. Signals received from thecommunications network 1401 by the antenna 1540 are routed to thereceiver 1500, which provides for signal amplification, frequency downconversion, filtering, channel selection, etc., and may also provideanalog to digital conversion. Analog-to-digital conversion of thereceived signal allows the DSP 1580 to perform more complexcommunications functions, such as demodulation and decoding. In asimilar manner, signals to be transmitted to the network 1401 areprocessed (e.g. modulated and encoded) by the DSP 1580 and are thenprovided to the transmitter 1520 for digital to analog conversion,frequency up conversion, filtering, amplification and transmission tothe communication network 1401 (or networks) via the antenna 1560.

In addition to processing communications signals, the DSP 1580 providesfor control of the receiver 1500 and the transmitter 1520. For example,gains applied to communications signals in the receiver 1500 andtransmitter 1520 may be adaptively controlled through automatic gaincontrol algorithms implemented in the DSP 1580.

In a data communications mode, a received signal, such as a text messageor web page download, is processed by the communications subsystem 1001and is input to the processing device 1800. The received signal is thenfurther processed by the processing device 1800 for an output to thedisplay 1600, or alternatively to some other auxiliary I/O device 1060.A device user may also compose data items, such as e-mail messages,using the keypad 1400 and/or some other auxiliary I/O device 1060, suchas a touchpad, a rocker switch, a thumb-wheel, or some other type ofinput device. The composed data items may then be transmitted over thecommunications network 1401 via the communications subsystem 1001.

In a voice communications mode, overall operation of the device issubstantially similar to the data communications mode, except thatreceived signals are output to a speaker 1100, and signals fortransmission are generated by a microphone 1120. Alternative voice oraudio I/O subsystems, such as a voice message recording subsystem, mayalso be implemented on the device 1000. In addition, the display 1600may also be utilized in voice communications mode, for example todisplay the identity of a calling party, the duration of a voice call,or other voice call related information.

The short-range communications subsystem enables communication betweenthe mobile device 1000 and other proximate systems or devices, whichneed not necessarily be similar devices. For example, the short-rangecommunications subsystem may include an infrared device and associatedcircuits and components, or a Bluetooth™ communications module toprovide for communication with similarly-enabled systems and devices.

Many modifications and other embodiments will come to the mind of oneskilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it isunderstood that various modifications and embodiments are intended to beincluded within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A mobile wireless communications device comprising: an antenna; awireless radio frequency (RF) receiver; a wireless RF transmitter; and aduplexer connecting said wireless RF receiver and said wireless RFtransmitter to said antenna; said wireless RF receiver comprising a lownoise amplifier (LNA) connected to said duplexer and having first andsecond differential outputs, a first receive signal chain for wirelesscommunications signals having a first signal type connected to the firstdifferential output of said LNA, and a second receive signal chain forwireless communications signals having a second signal type differentthan the first signal type connected to the second differential outputof said LNA.
 2. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1wherein said first receive signal chain has a first data rate; andwherein said second receive signal chain has a second data rate greaterthan the first data rate.
 3. The mobile wireless communications deviceof claim 2 wherein at least one of said first and second signal chainsalso processes voice communications.
 4. The mobile wirelesscommunications device of claim 1 wherein the first signal type for saidfirst receive signal chain comprises CDMA2000 1×.
 5. The mobile wirelesscommunications device of claim 1 wherein the second signal type for saidsecond receive signal chain comprises CDMA2000 1×-EVDO.
 6. The mobilewireless communications device of claim 1 wherein said wireless RFreceiver further comprises at least one filter connected between saidLNA and said first and second receive signal chains.
 7. The mobilewireless communications device of claim 1 wherein said first receivesignal chain comprises a first mixer; and wherein said second receivesignal chain comprises a second mixer.
 8. A mobile wirelesscommunications device comprising: an antenna; a wireless radio frequency(RF) receiver; a wireless RF transmitter; and a duplexer connecting saidwireless RF receiver and said wireless RF transmitter to said antenna;said wireless RF receiver comprising a low noise amplifier (LNA)connected to said duplexer and having first and second differentialoutputs, a first receive signal chain for a first Code Division MultipleAccess (CDMA) signal type connected to the first differential output ofsaid LNA and having a first data rate, and a second receive signal chainfor a second CDMA signal type different than the first signal typeconnected to the second differential output of said LNA and having asecond data rate greater than the first data rate.
 9. The mobilewireless communications device of claim 8 wherein at least one of saidfirst and second signal chains also processes voice communications. 10.The mobile wireless communications device of claim 8 wherein the firstCDMA signal type for said first receive signal chain comprises CDMA20001×.
 11. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 8 wherein thesecond CDMA signal type for said second receive signal chain comprisesCDMA2000 1×-EVDO.
 12. The mobile wireless communications device of claim8 wherein said wireless RF receiver further comprises at least onefilter connected between said LNA and said first and second receivesignal chains.
 13. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 8wherein said first receive signal chain comprises a first mixer; andwherein said second receive signal chain comprises a second mixer.
 14. Amobile wireless communications method comprising: providing a mobilewireless communications device comprising an antenna, a wireless radiofrequency (RF) receiver, a wireless RF transmitter, and a duplexerconnecting the wireless RF receiver and the wireless RF transmitter tothe antenna, wherein the wireless RF receiver comprises a low noiseamplifier (LNA) connected to the duplexer and having first and seconddifferential outputs, a first receive signal chain connected to thefirst differential output of the LNA, and a second receive signal chainconnected to the second differential output of the LNA; and using thefirst receive signal chain for wireless communications signals having afirst wireless communications signal type, and using the second receivesignal chain for wireless communications signals having a secondwireless communications signal type different than the first signaltype.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the first receive signal chainhas a first data rate; and wherein the second receive signal chain has asecond data rate greater than the first data rate.
 16. The method ofclaim 15 wherein at least one of the first and second signal chains alsoprocesses voice communications.
 17. The method of claim 14 wherein thefirst signal type for the first receive signal chain comprises CDMA20001×.
 18. The method of claim 14 wherein the second signal type for thesecond receive signal chain comprises CDMA2000 1×-EVDO.
 19. The methodof claim 14 wherein the wireless RF receiver further comprises at leastone filter connected between the LNA and the first and second receivesignal chains.
 20. The method of claim 14 wherein the first receivesignal chain comprises a first mixer; and wherein the second receivesignal chain comprises a second mixer.